History of the potato

The potato was the first domesticated root vegetable in the area of modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia. People started growing potatoes there between 8000 and 5000 BC.

While potatoes may have been grown as long as 10,000 years ago in South America, it is hard to know for sure because potato tubers do not stay well preserved over time. The oldest potato remains that scientists have found are from a place called Ancón in central Peru, and they are about 2500 years old. Potatoes have even appeared as designs on old ceramic pottery from Peru.

Over time, the potato spread around the world and became an important food in many countries, often a main part of meals. Today, potatoes are eaten everywhere and are a staple crop in most places.

Early history: Western South America

Potatoes and tomatoes are related because they belong to the same plant group called Solanum. Scientists think modern potatoes come from a group called Etuberosum, which grows in western South America. These plants make small underground stems but do not grow big potatoes.

The oldest potato pieces found by scientists are from a place called Ancón in central Peru, and they are from the year 2500 BC. Potatoes were also found in other places in Peru from around 2000 BC to 800 BC. During these times, potatoes and other root foods were very important for people’s meals. They were cooked in many ways, like boiling and steaming.

In some areas, people made a special food from potatoes called chuño. They let the potatoes freeze and then thaw many times to make them smaller and lighter. This food could be stored for many years without refrigeration, which was very helpful during hard times. Potatoes were also very important to people in Chile and other southern areas.

First European encounter

In 1537, Spanish explorers found the potato for the first time in Europe. One of them, Don Juan Castellanos, wrote about seeing the plant in a village in Peru.

Soon after, other Europeans also wrote about the potato. In 1553, a soldier named Pedro Cieza de León called the plant "battata" and said it and maize were important foods for people in South America. The potato reached Europe by the late 1500s, arriving first in Spain around 1570 and later in the British Isles between 1588 and 1593. Over time, the potato became a popular and important food across Europe because it was cheap, filling, and did not spoil easily. By the mid-1800s, the potato was a main part of meals for many people.

Spread across the world

Europe

Further information: Columbian exchange

When sailors brought potatoes from South America to Europe, they were not always accepted at first. Some Europeans were afraid of the potato because it looked like a poisonous plant. At first, potatoes were mostly used to feed animals or as a last-resort food during hard times. Over time, people began to see the value of potatoes as a reliable food source.

Potatoes became an important part of the diet in many European countries. In Ireland, potatoes were a main food for many people, and the population grew because of this. In France and Germany, leaders encouraged people to grow potatoes to help prevent hunger. The potato’s ability to grow in different soils and climates made it a valuable crop.

Africa

Potatoes were brought to Africa by European settlers. At first, many people were unsure about growing them, thinking they might be poisonous. However, as people saw the benefits, potatoes became more common, especially in places where other crops were hard to grow. Today, potatoes are an important food in many parts of Africa.

Asia

After potatoes were introduced to Asia, they quickly became popular. In China, they were enjoyed by the royal family and later spread across the country. In India, potatoes were introduced by traders and became common in gardens. They also reached Tibet through trade routes from India.

North America

Early settlers in North America may have grown potatoes from seeds or tubers brought from Europe. The first known potato crop in North America was planted in New Hampshire in 1719, brought from Ireland. Over time, potatoes became widely grown across the continent. In the United States, states like Idaho and Washington became major potato producers, and today potatoes are an important crop.

Becoming a European staple food

French doctor Antoine Parmentier learned a lot about potatoes and showed how healthy they were in a book he wrote in 1774. Kings and queens, like Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, helped people learn about potatoes, and soon France grew lots of them. By the mid-1800s, France was growing millions of hectoliters of potatoes each year.

Potatoes became popular all over Europe because they were easy to grow, didn’t spoil quickly, and were cheap to eat. They helped people have enough food, especially in places like Ireland and Russia.

20th-century research

See also: Potato Research

By the 1960s, the Canadian Potato Research Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick was one of the top potato research places in the world. It began in 1912 and worked on creating new potato varieties to fight diseases. In the 1950s and 1960s, as the French fry industry grew in New Brunswick, the centre also studied potatoes best for this use.

Starting in the 1960s, a Chilean agronomist named Andrés Contreras collected rare potato types from places like the Chiloé Archipelago and San Juan de la Costa. These potatoes were grown in small gardens by older women and passed down through families. In 1990, he led an expedition to the Guaitecas Archipelago to find more types. His work helped create a gene bank of Chilean potatoes at the Austral University of Chile in Valdivia. He helped local communities by improving their potato varieties for small farms.

Today, potatoes are very popular because they can be used in many different dishes. They are now the fifth most important crop in the world, after wheat, corn, rice, and sugar cane.